Airway Centric

As an Airway and Sleep Centric Dentist, I Begin by Evaluating the Oral Rest Position (ORP) of my Patients.

The ORP is

A. Lips gently together

B. Teeth slightly apart

C. Entire tongue to the roof of our mouth

The proper ORP allows for nasal breathing which is the correct way to breathe. Mouth breathing, which is bad, occurs when we are compensating for something. Most of the time that something is a tongue tie, also known as a tethered oral tissue.

The tongue rest on the roof of the mouth waiting for a swallow. When one swallows, the tongue flattens out against the upper jaw (maxilla) and helps to widened it. This increases the size of the nasal cavity since the maxilla is the floor of the nose.

If a child has a tongue tie, the tongue is tied to the floor of the mouth and cannot help to grow the upper jaw. This underdeveloped jaw will encourage mouth breathing and the child tends to make a habit of it. Mouth breathers tend to grow longer more narrow faces.

To release a tongue tie, we use the Solea CO2 laser. This procedure, called a frenectomy, is very quick, virtually painless with minimum bleeding. Most of the time it is performed with just some topical numbing jelly. Many symptoms are resolved immediately.

To encourage proper growth and development of the child’s jaws, we use The Healthy Start program. These oral appliances are a form of myofunctional therapy and are worn passively while the child sleeps, and/or actively during the day. The HS habit corrector is for evening wear and helps to correct noxious habits such as thumb or finger sucking. This habit corrector also encourages nasal breathing which allows for more oxygen into the body while the child sleeps.

The guiding HS appliances are worn during the day and are used with active exercises. These appliances guide the teeth into proper position as the jaws grow.

Finally, to make the most out of our nasal breathing, I educate my patients on nasal cleaning. This should be added to our evening ADLs and uses an all natural xylitol nasal spray called Xlear.

Sincerely,

John Rawa Jr., DMD, FAGD, DABDSM

President of Dentistry with a Touch of Art, LLC 

Dental Director of Rawa Dental Sleep Medicine